"...good citizens would never suggest scoundrels meet with violence)."
Yea, good citizens stand, watch, and cheer inwardly(do nothing) as better citizens take action within the law(court, press) or outside the law (assassination, harassment) to end this crap.
"If we all could balance pursuit of immediate monetary/emotional gain with other concerns, there wouldn't/be/ corporate overlords."
That might have true seventy years ago when the public was more spread out and independent and law wasn't written to support corporations outright but it's not so much now. People have moved to the cities that just can't function without corporate support(privatisation). We're largely dependent on corporations now, need examples: fcc net neutrality decision, all the various corporate bailouts, food generation, etc.
"Making something a web service means if it's at all decent, it's also now OS-independent, which means I've now lost the single-point-of-failure of Microsoft."
Or linux, or OSX, or bsd, etc. You've also gained the multiple points of failure of web services with their variable ethics for securing personal information, bigger target for data sellouts/hacking(facebook), ISP data rate games, connection stability, browser compatibilities, etc.
When it's your machine you control what's going on. You can always switch OSes, change programs, control where your data is stored, backup to your own media, verify your own security, etc. You don't have that luxury with web services. Need examples, China hacking Google, big one -- AT&T, hell practically everyone providing customer data to US government in violation of law(GW Bush era), abuse of National Security Letters, every month or so a personal records leak at some company/government department(happens so often I've stopped bothering to keep track), etc.
The cloud is useful for accessing public data and doing temporary transactions but is not the place for business/private/personal information. You don't put your private records in the local library do you?
When is that? Essentially this law says you're working for them 24/7. I've got news, when you're off the clock you're not and what you do on your own time is none of their business.
"You also can't insist that they continue to employ you after you call them asshats. Free speech has consequences too, you see."
Unless it's punishment for calling them asshats, then yes it's a 1st amendment issue as they are a government body regulated by the constitution. The idea of the first amendment is to prevent government reprisals to statements made by its citizens, that includes its employees who, by the way, are citizens. And firing them is definitely a reprisal.
"Taxpayers Earn +23% on Goldman Sachs TARP Repayment"
And how much money did Goldman Sachs get from the government before tarp and how much interest did they make investing the tarp money while they had it?
"The population is lazy, self-entitled, undereducated, science-illiterate, unversed in either informal or formal logic, and completely averse to quality standards, quality control, or doing quality work."
It's amazing how hard we work and still get that description too. How about the melamine poisoning the last couple of years, lead paint, land grabs from villages, environment poisoning, and other crap, in booming China. The US population doesn't have the patent on senseless behavior or standards. Boy, will they have superfund cleanup sites.
You're definitely American all right. General statements of failure and all. The US has dropped the ball from a point of view. The current uprisings in Egypt are just an example where the US excels as those people aren't asking for vocal support from China. China also gets it's capitalistic stability and much of its technology from the US. This isn't even new to the point it's funny, Japan pulled this same economic shit in the 1980's, how well did it work for them? Just remember this, China is in the same position the US was between fifty to one hundred years ago and Japan a couple of decades ago. I'm sure in five to ten decades a Chinese citizen will say the same about China as you are about the US. That's if he's allowed to say it. Actually I've heard murmurs of that kind already, from the downtrodden as always. Another thing to ponder is what China was like just a few short years ago like the time of the Cultural Revolution.
As for culture, no other country has a chance of being as broad as the US, the very existence of the evolution argument being just an example. Ideologies are everywhere. Hell, we even make them up on the fly. Just finding what works and making it work is the true test. By the way, having one ideology for all is just great until it doesn't work out as expected, what then? And what about the damage?
If you were as smart as you say you are you would have known this already.
"And at the end of the day, I don't feel "abused" at all and plan to work hard to raise my own daughter with very high academic and intellectual standards."
I would hope more than that. There's a lot more to life than just academics. You may not feel "abused" but many people have. Kind of figures into that one ideology for all not working thing.
"My wife and I are currently trying to decide whether this process will require us to leave the U.S. for either China or Eastern Europe (where she's from, and was a child prodigy at top schools under the old Soviet satellite system) in order to get a good education and avoid the dead weight of American anti-intellectual culture holding our daughter back."
Then get off your asses and change the current system. Something that actually can be done in the US versus many other countries. If you don't, you are an example of one of the causes of the current problems that exist. Or How about growing a spine and teaching your daughter yourselves. And as for leaving: Don't forget to give up your families US citizenship as well and don't let the door hit you on the ass on the way out. A nice pragmatic viewpoint for you.
"We could outlaw religion and most of these sex crimes would disappear in a couple of generations. But we don't have time for rational solutions. -- George Carlin
Take away arbitrary standards (age, morality, etc) these problems go away.
We've had bankers and executives mess up the lives of millions of people(that includes children) and have gotten away with it, prosecutors going after sexting kids for political reasons, etc. So how can we "punish/abuse" so-called sex offenders individually doing what actually comes naturally when we won't deal with the "wmd" of abusers doing it for greed or those that abuse for political gain. Talk about hypocrites.
We'll vaporize entire cities with individual scenes and commentary on national TV with no problem but if theres one bare titty everyones up in arms.
"Technically speaking, their role in killing people is exactly the reason for the 2nd Amendment. The amendment's purpose isn't to ensure the ability to hunt, it's to ensure the ability to engage in acts of war."
If you had bothered to read the 2nd amendment you'd know the public's right to arms is so that "we the public" can protect ourselves from our own government, not just other governments.
2nd amendment: "A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed."
"Well regulated" meaning "functional" in 1789, hence, A functional Militia, being necessary... right of the people to keep and bear Arms,...
The founding fathers could have ignored the general public and defined a standing army instead. They didn't.
"People seem to leave this part out. They keep screaming about the 'bailouts' and tax payer money being 'wasted'. That money has been, for the most part, repaid, with interest... "
And how does that interest pay for all the damage done. These creeps aren't even being held accountable for the disaster they themselves caused. 23% interest on a few billion doesn't compare to the trillions in damages and the billions already given to the banks before tarp.
rant
Why haven't these assholes been killed already? They wield more actual power than the kings of old but don't pay the big price for it./rant
"Take school bullies. When I was growing up, you let the bully get away with it till you got fed up, you confronted it and the bully went looking for a less painful target. If I got in trouble, so be it. I was fed up. It was a critical event in my development. Today, with our "zero-tolerance" policies and the stupid mantra of "let the authorities handle it", we get things like this. All the while ignoring the possibility that we are at this point because we refuse to let kids learn how to deal with bullying. Unintended consequence"
Bad example, standing up may have worked for you but I spent several days in the hospital on numerous occasions due to groups of bullies. Only the threat of a lawsuit got the school and their parents to crack down on this shit. Standing up only works when things a fairly evenly matched, otherwise it's a crapshoot. I stood up to these guys every day. It didn't stop the harassment and no one else came to my aid, believing the same shit you do. When you are in a closed system you don't have to luxury of the problem going away when it's looking for you and you're so outmatched you can't defend against it. The legal avenue is for those who lost more than they should ever have. Equality isn't just for the winners.
"Of course when you combine that with Midsummer snow in Australia and unusually cold weather in many other areas, you start to get a global cooling. -- "The facts of life are conservative." Margaret Thatcher"
The winters are getting dryer here in the central United States. In the 70's, five feet of snow from late October to May was normal and now I haven't seen an inch on the ground yet this year. There also haven't been any below zero temperatures yet this year as opposed to at least a couple weeks worth by now in years previous.
Slashdot Mirror
"...good citizens would never suggest scoundrels meet with violence)."
Yea, good citizens stand, watch, and cheer inwardly(do nothing) as better citizens take action within the law(court, press) or outside the law (assassination, harassment) to end this crap.
"If we all could balance pursuit of immediate monetary/emotional gain with other concerns, there wouldn't /be/ corporate overlords."
That might have true seventy years ago when the public was more spread out and independent and law wasn't written to support corporations outright but it's not so much now. People have moved to the cities that just can't function without corporate support(privatisation). We're largely dependent on corporations now, need examples: fcc net neutrality decision, all the various corporate bailouts, food generation, etc.
"Making something a web service means if it's at all decent, it's also now OS-independent, which means I've now lost the single-point-of-failure of Microsoft."
Or linux, or OSX, or bsd, etc. You've also gained the multiple points of failure of web services with their variable ethics for securing personal information, bigger target for data sellouts/hacking(facebook), ISP data rate games, connection stability, browser compatibilities, etc.
When it's your machine you control what's going on. You can always switch OSes, change programs, control where your data is stored, backup to your own media, verify your own security, etc. You don't have that luxury with web services.
Need examples, China hacking Google, big one -- AT&T, hell practically everyone providing customer data to US government in violation of law(GW Bush era), abuse of National Security Letters, every month or so a personal records leak at some company/government department(happens so often I've stopped bothering to keep track), etc.
The cloud is useful for accessing public data and doing temporary transactions but is not the place for business/private/personal information. You don't put your private records in the local library do you?
"...no such thing as free sex."
Oh ya. How true, how true. There's always a price.
"...my right hand for my mouse. Gotta navigate somehow through those Google Images."
My machine has a speech interface for that as I often need both hands free and yes, I'm really lazy too. /humor
"...you should have picked your parents..."
Since when did I pick my parents? If so, I want a refund.
it's amazing vocal contracts mean so little until someone with money is in one.
"...as yourself, of course..."
When is that? Essentially this law says you're working for them 24/7. I've got news, when you're off the clock you're not and what you do on your own time is none of their business.
"You also can't insist that they continue to employ you after you call them asshats. Free speech has consequences too, you see."
Unless it's punishment for calling them asshats, then yes it's a 1st amendment issue as they are a government body regulated by the constitution. The idea of the first amendment is to prevent government reprisals to statements made by its citizens, that includes its employees who, by the way, are citizens. And firing them is definitely a reprisal.
"I'm kind of interested in what's going to happen here. ..."
Me too, as I'm still trying to figure out the illegal part since a DDOS is an steroid version of regular website operations.
"Taxpayers Earn +23% on Goldman Sachs TARP Repayment"
And how much money did Goldman Sachs get from the government before tarp and how much interest did they make investing the tarp money while they had it?
"...$20,000 credit..."
Better be a $30k credit on a $40k vehicle as the limits on the damn thing make it only worth about $10k or less.
"The population is lazy, self-entitled, undereducated, science-illiterate, unversed in either informal or formal logic, and completely averse to quality standards, quality control, or doing quality work."
It's amazing how hard we work and still get that description too.
How about the melamine poisoning the last couple of years, lead paint, land grabs from villages, environment poisoning, and other crap, in booming China. The US population doesn't have the patent on senseless behavior or standards. Boy, will they have superfund cleanup sites.
You're definitely American all right. General statements of failure and all. The US has dropped the ball from a point of view. The current uprisings in Egypt are just an example where the US excels as those people aren't asking for vocal support from China. China also gets it's capitalistic stability and much of its technology from the US. This isn't even new to the point it's funny, Japan pulled this same economic shit in the 1980's, how well did it work for them? Just remember this, China is in the same position the US was between fifty to one hundred years ago and Japan a couple of decades ago. I'm sure in five to ten decades a Chinese citizen will say the same about China as you are about the US. That's if he's allowed to say it. Actually I've heard murmurs of that kind already, from the downtrodden as always. Another thing to ponder is what China was like just a few short years ago like the time of the Cultural Revolution.
As for culture, no other country has a chance of being as broad as the US, the very existence of the evolution argument being just an example. Ideologies are everywhere. Hell, we even make them up on the fly. Just finding what works and making it work is the true test. By the way, having one ideology for all is just great until it doesn't work out as expected, what then? And what about the damage?
If you were as smart as you say you are you would have known this already.
"And at the end of the day, I don't feel "abused" at all and plan to work hard to raise my own daughter with very high academic and intellectual standards."
I would hope more than that. There's a lot more to life than just academics. You may not feel "abused" but many people have. Kind of figures into that one ideology for all not working thing.
"My wife and I are currently trying to decide whether this process will require us to leave the U.S. for either China or Eastern Europe (where she's from, and was a child prodigy at top schools under the old Soviet satellite system) in order to get a good education and avoid the dead weight of American anti-intellectual culture holding our daughter back."
Then get off your asses and change the current system. Something that actually can be done in the US versus many other countries. If you don't, you are an example of one of the causes of the current problems that exist.
Or
How about growing a spine and teaching your daughter yourselves.
And as for leaving:
Don't forget to give up your families US citizenship as well and don't let the door hit you on the ass on the way out. A nice pragmatic viewpoint for you.
"...Morbidly Obese people could be 400 or 500 lbs..."
You'll know there's a problem when a pops out saying "ONE AT A TIME".
"There isn't gold and half-naked hot Indian women on the moon."
Darn!!
Maybe not on the moon, but how about on Slashdot.org? ("Hea-hea-hea." -- Igor - Dracula - Dead and Loving It or was it Love at First Bite? Ah well.)
hea - way it sounded.
"Programmer: A fat guy behind a PC making Facebook and Google."
Actually,
Programmer: A fat guy behind a PC making Facebook and Google giggle.
Somehow it seems better that way.
"Donald Knuth has published a book and a date has been set for the release of Duke Nukem Forever? It's all too much."
There's more yet, Freebsd is getting a new installer.
http://lists.freebsd.org/pipermail/freebsd-current/2011-January/022335.html
Will we stand the strain?
The Freebsd guys better announce it in big bold letters everywhere to cut down on the potential heart attacks as the shock may be too much for some.
Satan just asked Mary to stop by for a quick warm-up(he he) as hell just froze over.
Good God what's next????!!!!
"We could outlaw religion and most of these sex crimes would disappear in a couple of generations. But we don't have time for rational solutions. -- George Carlin
Take away arbitrary standards (age, morality, etc) these problems go away.
We've had bankers and executives mess up the lives of millions of people(that includes children) and have gotten away with it, prosecutors going after sexting kids for political reasons, etc. So how can we "punish/abuse" so-called sex offenders individually doing what actually comes naturally when we won't deal with the "wmd" of abusers doing it for greed or those that abuse for political gain. Talk about hypocrites.
We'll vaporize entire cities with individual scenes and commentary on national TV with no problem but if theres one bare titty everyones up in arms.
"Technically speaking, their role in killing people is exactly the reason for the 2nd Amendment. The amendment's purpose isn't to ensure the ability to hunt, it's to ensure the ability to engage in acts of war."
If you had bothered to read the 2nd amendment you'd know the public's right to arms is so that "we the public" can protect ourselves from our own government, not just other governments.
2nd amendment:
"A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed."
"Well regulated" meaning "functional" in 1789, hence, A functional Militia, being necessary ... right of the people to keep and bear Arms, ...
The founding fathers could have ignored the general public and defined a standing army instead. They didn't.
"getting everyone an IP address."
And tell me the difference between "getting everyone an IP address" and national ID.
"People seem to leave this part out. They keep screaming about the 'bailouts' and tax payer money being 'wasted'. That money has been, for the most part, repaid, with interest... "
And how does that interest pay for all the damage done. These creeps aren't even being held accountable for the disaster they themselves caused. 23% interest on a few billion doesn't compare to the trillions in damages and the billions already given to the banks before tarp.
rant /rant
Why haven't these assholes been killed already? They wield more actual power than the kings of old but don't pay the big price for it.
"Take school bullies. When I was growing up, you let the bully get away with it till you got fed up, you confronted it and the bully went looking for a less painful target. If I got in trouble, so be it. I was fed up. It was a critical event in my development. Today, with our "zero-tolerance" policies and the stupid mantra of "let the authorities handle it", we get things like this. All the while ignoring the possibility that we are at this point because we refuse to let kids learn how to deal with bullying. Unintended consequence"
Bad example, standing up may have worked for you but I spent several days in the hospital on numerous occasions due to groups of bullies. Only the threat of a lawsuit got the school and their parents to crack down on this shit. Standing up only works when things a fairly evenly matched, otherwise it's a crapshoot. I stood up to these guys every day. It didn't stop the harassment and no one else came to my aid, believing the same shit you do. When you are in a closed system you don't have to luxury of the problem going away when it's looking for you and you're so outmatched you can't defend against it. The legal avenue is for those who lost more than they should ever have. Equality isn't just for the winners.
"Of course when you combine that with Midsummer snow in Australia and unusually cold weather in many other areas, you start to get a global cooling.
--
"The facts of life are conservative." Margaret Thatcher"
The winters are getting dryer here in the central United States. In the 70's, five feet of snow from late October to May was normal and now I haven't seen an inch on the ground yet this year. There also haven't been any below zero temperatures yet this year as opposed to at least a couple weeks worth by now in years previous.
"The realities of life are liberal." Me!
"In 1946.
(it was a banana kingdom before that)"
Bananas is right. "Before that" isn't right as it still is "bananas".
Greed over Ethics doesn't impress me much. They were still making money, just less of it before they changed their direction.